plus, a surprise admission lee boyd malvo is making to nbc ten years after the beltway sniper shootings. good morning, and welcome to "news4 today." i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. at least two people have died as hurricane sandy continues to gain strength over cuba. this category storm now made landfall overnight with wind gusts up to 114 miles an hour. the haiti news agency ahp says a woman died trying to cross a flooded ravine. another person died in jamaica. jamaican tv stations are also reporting that more than 70% of the island is without power this morning. sandy expected to remain a hurricane as it moves through bahamas. a tropical storm warning now in effect for palm beach county florida and thereasure coast, although it is unlikely sandy will make landfall in florida, the storm will likely pass close enough to generate strong wind and heavy rain this weekend. >> tom kierein has been tracking the path of sandy and is going to tell us what kind of impact it might have our area. >> in a few hours, we'll get new

models that come in. i've been feverishly analyzing these models. i'm quickly running back and looking at the latest information, keeping you fully informed. it is very important that you stay very closely attuned to the forecast here at nbc 4. storm team 4 will be on it morning, noon, and night. we'll be here for you. right now this morning, no travel problems weather-wise, except a little bit of flog. we have some patchy dense fog in the northern eastern suburbs. watch out for that. elsewhere, got a clear sky and temperatures are generally in the 50s. much of the region. so it's a cool morning. and it's right near 60 in washington and near the bay waters. and as we take a look at the latest with sandy, it is now passing over eastern cuba, unloading a lot of rain and a lot of wind there. it is a category 2 hurricane now. it has winds sustained at 105. as we get through the day, it's going to move north through the bahamas as a category 1 storm

and then take a right turn. by late on sunday, as it gets off of hatteras, it may be getting close enough to us to affect our weather here. it could be tracking anywhere within this zone. farther east, we won't get anything out of it. right now, the indications are the greater chance is that it may track right along our atlantic seaboard. so here are the potential impacts. wind and rain beginning for us, beginning on sunday, especially south and east of the metro area, getting worse as the day goes on. and then into monday, looks like the worst effects of that storm with potential power outages. stay tuned. we'll be keeping you fully informed. hour by hour today, the forecast for the day, near 70 by noontime. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. danella has a look at traffic now. good morning. >> good morning. well, we're going to start along i-270. delayed as you travel between frederick and heading southbound towards clarksburg road, you are slow. a live look at 109. you know how this goes. just bumper to bumper sluggish as you make your ways to

simila clarksburg. travel lanes are open in both directions. no major delays. to the rails, not seeing any reported delays, but if you're traveling in virginia, still seeing an accident i-95 northbound. backver o to you. new this morning, a single car crash in northwest washington ends with one man causing an international incident at the russian embassy. news4 shot this exclusive video, it started with a man who flipped his suv at massachusetts avenue and calvert avenue northwest earlier this morning. as police approached him, the man took all. he eventually jumped the fence of the russian embassy on wisconsin avenue. the secret service then had to negotiate with the russian security forces for 90 minutes before they finally turned him over to american authorities. this morning, we're hearing from d.c. area sniper lee boyd malvo. he told the "today" show's matt lauer that his accomplice john

allen mohamed sexually abused him for years. malvo made another startling revelation. >> to this date, are there victims of your shooting spree that have not been identified? >> yes. >> wouldn't it be helpful to you and certainly wouldn't it be helpful to family members of those other people to give more information and tell the police what you know? >> without anyone contacting me two and a half years ago, i reached out and i did that, in five different instances in different states. but there was a point in time where psychologically, i couldn't handle it. this is reality. in here, i have no one. i have to take care of myself. >> you catch matt lauer's entire phone interview with lee boyd malvo this morning right after "news4 today." virginia once again becoming the focus of both presidential campaigns today. president obama and republican vice presidential nominee paul

ryan will both campaign in the commonwealth. the president will hold a rally in richmond this afternoon. ryan will make tw stops in virginia today. he'll appear at events in bristol and in charlottesville. >> please welcome the 44th president of the united states, barack obama. >> president obama was a guest on "the tonight show" with jay leno last night. >> what's this thing with trump and you? it's like me and letterman. what has he got against you? >> this all dates back to when we were growing up together in kenya. >> the president has made several other late night talk show appearances in recent weeks. he was on the daily show with jon stewart just last week. mitt romney will spend all of today in ohio. he'll take a bus tour across the state with stops in cincinnati, worthington and defiance. it is quite a contrast from yesterday. the republican presidential touching down in all four time

zones in the continental united states. he had rallies in nevada, colorado, and iowa before ending day in cincinnati. >> you can boil what he's saying down to four simple words, and that is more of the same. we don't want more of the same. we can't afford four more years like the last four years. that's why we -- paul ryan and i have a plan with five simple steps. these steps are going to get america's economy just cooking again. >> paul ryan campaigned yesterday in ohio. he spoke at cleveland state university. no republican has ever lost in ohio and won the white house. today, different sides of maryland's gay marriage debate will be at gallaudet university. they won't be there to demonstrate against each other, though. instead they'll be there to support the school's chief diversity officer angela mccaskill. dr. mccaskill was placed on leave after signing a petition for the referendum of that law.

ministers who support gay marriage had already planned a rally, but then the pro gay marriage national black church initiative signed on as well. the trial begins today for two people accused of giving alcohol to minors killed in a crash. prosecutors say debbie franco and her son joshua gave alcohol to three teenagers before a january 28th crash. police say britney walker was driving the wrong way along route 50 when she slammed into another car. walker, zachary rose, franco's lawyer brianna and the other driver died in that crash. why the company responsible for a deadly meningitis outbreak should have been shut down years ago. plus, the final destination for this prized harley after it traveled halfway around the world as tsunami debris. enjoy the warm weather now, because big changes are on the

a motorcycle that took a wild ride from japan to british columbia without a rider is now on display for everyone to see. it's floated out to sea during japan's devastated tsunami. more than a year later, it washed up along canada's coast. a harley davidson dealer used the license plate to track down its owner who lost three family members. a look at weather and traffic coming your way. tom kierein has details on our forecast. >> so. patchy fog. watch out for that. as we get toward 8:30, clarksburg should be in the upper 50s, near 60 and partly cloudy. for the lunch hour, into the mid 60s. hour by hour, the whole region,

a delightful autumn day coming up. highs reaching mid 70s. a look at traffic now with danella. good morning. i'm following breaking news in an -- annen dale. a single vehicle crash. you will have to get off on to johnmarr drive. good news on i-95 northbound. e crash at joplin has been moved to the shoulder lane. travel lanes are open, but you are slow to joplin road. it's not just good for your heart. how aspirin could help you avoid another potential health problem. >> also ahead, talk about the right place at the right time. the actions of some quick thinking heroes that helped save a woman's life. plus, we are tracking the latest path of hurricane sandy as people along the east coast prepare for the worst.

a police officer and an e.r. doctor being called heroes for being in the right place at the right time to save a georgia woman's life. it was all caught on the officer's dash cam. a 74-year-old woman collapsed in a parking lot in georgia. fortunately the officer and an e.r. doctor both saw it happening and rushed into action. it's something the officer says he has never experienced in his ten-year career. >> before you know it, she's taking a breath, she's moving a little bit and you're just thinking to yourself i can't believe this is actually happening. >> the woman is expected the

make a full recovery. a fast-moving fire is forcing hundreds of people in colorado to flee their homes. nearly 400 home have been evacuated as high winds fuel that fire. firefighters say the fire began as a structure fire that quickly spread to some nearby brush. so far, no one has been hurt. today, the teen accused of killing a 10-year-old colorado girl will make his first appearance in court. 17-year-old austin sigg turned himself into police on tuesday night after his mother called authorities. earlier this month, jessica ridgeway went missing while on her way to school. her body but found five days later in a nearby field. sigg will also face charges for trying to abduct a woman back in may while she was jogging. the reverend jesse jackson and at least a dozen others arrested while at a factory in illinois. jackson joined a group of employees who were demanding to speak to plant management. the group was warned that it would be arrested if it came on to factory property. the protesters linked arms and

walked on anyway. the company is in the process of closing that plant and moving those jobs to china. we now know the man accused of killing a volunteer at a georgia megachurch yesterday spent some time at a maryland mental health clinic. police say 51-year-old floyd palmer shot and killed a church volunteer outside world changers church international outside of atlanta. that church is run a nationally known televangelist. back in 2001, palmer was charged with attempted murder, assault and handgun charges in baltimore. he was released in 2005. a new report shows there was a chance eight years ago to shut down the company linked to the recent deadly meningitis outbreak. back in 2004, massachusetts regulators proposed a formal reprimand for the new england compounding center for problems with the same steroid that's been connected to the outbreak. regulators never proceeded after the company complained it would hurt business. so far, 24 people have died and

more than 300 others nationwide have been infected. more booster seats are making the grade for keeping kids safe in a car crash. new test results just released by the insurance institute for highway safety show that more booster seats on the market are doing the job. nearly 50 models got a best bet rating, way up from just ten seats in 2008. there are still several seats, though, that received a not recommended rating. booster seats are recommended for kids up to 8 years old, weighing up to 80 pounds. there's a link on the "news4 today" facebook page for you to check out how your child seat ranks. aspirin may hold hope for millions of cancer patients. doctors say the drug may help colon cancer patients get better with certain genetic mutations. they say patients who took aspirin regularly lived longer than those who didn't. about a sixth of all colon cancer patients have that mutated gene.

courageous. that's how president joe biden describes breast cancer survivors. they welcomed survivors into their home for a reception last night. he thanked them for sharing their stories. >> every time you speak up about what you've been through, it takes you back to having gone through it. there's nothing easy about that. i think people underestimate what courage it takes. but i know you do understand it gives so many other women hope. >> october is breast cancer awareness month. if for some reason you're not watching sunday's redskins game but instead watching the new york jets play miami, you'll probably notice something a little different when the refs call a penalty. they'll be using pink flags rather than yellow ones in support of breast cancer awareness month. the new york daily news says an 11-year-old boy from new jersey wrote a letter to the nfl commissioner roger goodell suggesting the idea. he and his family will get to present those flags on the field before the kickoff.

it's in with the young in the d.c. region. new analysis shows that our area is drawing record numbers of young adults. while those over the age of 55 are moving out. in the past three years alone, the median age of a d.c. area resident has trdropped by six months to just about 36 years old. washington also has the largest population of 25 to 34-year-olds in the nation. researchers say good jobs and decent incomes even during the recession have driven many young adults to move to our area. hurricane sandy is gaining strength over cuba. the category 2 storm made landfall overnight with winds gusting up to 114 miles per hour. sandy is expected to remain a hurricane as it moves through the bahamas. the storm could create some rough weather this weekend in florida. the weather channel's mike seidel is live outside west palm beach in singer island with more on that. mike, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning.

not a bad morning so far. 81. it's kind of tropical here in late october. we've got winds running up to 20 miles an hour. they'll be ramping up as that hurricane makes its closest approach tomorrow. it's going to be north off the coast. all the models take you due north. we're not concerned about it making a shifty turn to the left. with that said, we'll still get some gusts down here from the palm beachs to miami. it is raining this morning from lauderdale down to miami. some of the rain bands will scoot into the coast. the major issues will be coastal with the wind, the beach erosion, rip currents. that will keep folks out of the water, at least for safety reasons, into saturday. once it goes by, the weather gets better on sunday. then the big question is where does it make the left turn as it goes north? does it head into, say, the maryland and delaware coast, or down east maine? the models have a big spread. that's the big question, four to five days out, and that will impact change and how it's felt

back there in washington by the first of the week. at 6:21, let's get a look at our fr our forecast now. tom kierein is here. >> there may be some patchy fog where you live in the eastern suburbs. southern maryland around the bay, there's some patchy dense fog there. farther west, a mostly clear sky this morning where temperatures are down to the low 50s to even 40s. shenandoah valley closer to washington with a little bit of flog around, in the 50s to near 60 degrees. now the latest with hurricane sandy passing over eastern cuba and it does look like it's going to be taking a northerly turn into the bahamas later today. right now winds are sustained at 105 as a category 2 storm. then going to a category 1 during the day today, maintaining that strength as it goes east into saturday. by sunday, off of hatteras. after that, by late sunday into

monday, it could be tracking as far west as our atlantic seaboard, as mike was mentioning up into new england's main coast. so stay tuned, we'll be keeping you updated on it. right now, there is a decent chance it's going to come our way, beginning on sunday. between now and then, pleasant autumn weather. stay tuned, we could get wind driven rain sunday, monday, and tuesday. we'll be here with frequent updates. storm team 4 is on it. i'm back in ten minutes with another update and sandy's potential impacts for our area. from twitter, if you're traveling northbound 395 at 110, crash there. it's blocking the left lane. in fact, two left lane. and we are starting to see some delays grow. going to talk details on this accident, give you your travel speed as well, and give you an update on the crash on backlick road. what a virginia congressman's son was caught doing on camera that cost him his job just days before the election. also ahead, talk about

ruffling some feathers. anncr: which do you believe? what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

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there it is. a single boom marked the end of one of poland's tallest smokestacks. that 490-foot power station came down yesterday. it looked like slow motion there as it came down, the smokestack just leaned to one side and eventually fell to the ground with a big thud. engineers used 200 explosive charges to take out that concrete and brick structure. most of us have seen a deer or two in the last few weeks, but drivers in ireland experienced something a little more bizarre yesterday. a swan simply decided to cross what happens to be dublin's busiest street. drivers stopped and swerved as they tried to make their way down the city's famous o'connell street. fortunately a farm boy eventually saw what was going on. i love that ireland just has a farm boy on hand to usher the swan around. there he goes. that's the official way. so he helped the swan trek

across the street. not clear where the swan came from or where the farm boy came from, but the swan was not hurt. i'm going to try that with my children. just big arm motions. >> let me know how that works out for you. more severe criminal charges for the man accused of opening fire at the family research council. also ahead, first it was missing pages. now see the latest problem we uncovered with many of maryland's absentee ballots. plus, a new era for

traveling northbound, 395, it's a slow trip for

and now, from washington's leading news station, this is "news4 today." >> his comments in this undercover video cost him his job. now the son of congressman jim moran is responding to allegations of voter fraud. >> good morning, and welcome back to "news4 today." i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. let's take a live look outside right now. it's time for weather and traffic on the 1s. tom is outside on the storm team 4 weather deck. >> you might hear a leaf blower in the distance. landscapers are busy this morning.

a lot of the leaves coming down, but still a lot on trees. patchy fog and low clouds after we had clear sky about an hour ago. so watch out for the patchy fog and temperatures around the region are generally in the 50s. much of the area now. so it's a cool start. right now hurricane sandy is now exiting eastern cuba, heading toward the bahamas later today. it is a category 2 hurricane. it has sustained winds of about 104 miles an hour. it's moving north at about 120 miles an hour. it's going to diminish a bit in intensity, staying east of florida. unfortunately, by the end of the weekend, first part of next week, it may track to the left of that zone of possibilit and unfortunately, as a result, we could get wind and rain here, potentl power outages and flooding. so stay tuned. we'll be keeping you fully informed. today, high reaching mid 70s. i'm back in ten minutes. danella, how is traffic now? >> good news if you're traveling backlick road. had an earlier accident there.

it closed backlick road between johnmarr drive, but that is out of the roadway. your travel lanes are open. let's talk southbound 395 past 110. two of your left lanes are blocked by the accident there. if you're traveling northbound 395, seeing delays as well. here's a live look as you approach seminary road. you are under speaed, but not terrible just yesterday. i'm back in ten minutes with an update. over to you. now let's go to news4's melissa malay. >> hundreds of thousands of muslims are taking their annual pilgrimage to mecca. just unbelievable. the hill top and surrounding plain are where the private muhammad is believed to have delivered his final sermon. the son of virginia congressman jim moran giving his side of the story. patrick moran resigned from his father's campaign following the accusation of trying to commit

voter fraud. undercover video from the group project veritas surfaced recently. it shows what looks like patrick moran talking to what looked to be a field director concerned about the election. he talks to moran about trying to skirt virginia voter i.d. laws to cast multiple ballots. moran suggests forging utility bills to try and get around the laws. patrick moran released a statement following his resignation and said that he thought the man was joking, and in hindsight, he should have walked away immediately. swrim m jim moran's campaign also released a statement saying that pat had a clear error in judgment. ken cuccinelli is now stepping into a politically charged investigation into possible border fraud. they authorized the investigation yesterday and asked cuccinelli to get

involved. it centers around a contractor hired to register voters for the republican party, who now faces criminal charges for allegedly destroying registration forms. the contractor's parent company is already being investigated in florida for more than 200 allegations of voter fraud. more ballot problems in maryland uncovered by the news4 iteam. thousands of voters may have received more than one copy of their absentee ballot. the board of elections sent out extra copies after discovering postal bar codes on some ballots may have been incorrect. it comes just days after some voters reported their ballots were missing a page. you still vote, but the board of elections says if you submit both ballots, only the one with the later date will be counted. spending on maryland's most publicized ballot question is reaching new heights. more than $60 million has been spent so far on advertising for and against question 7. that nearly doubles the $34

million spent during a 2006 governor's race. gambling giant mgm has spent about $29 million trying to convince voters to pass the measure. while pen national, which owns casinos in west virginia, has spent $28 million trying to defeat the plan. >> now for the first time in d.c. history, a man faces terrorism charges, this after being suspected of shooting a security guard at the family research council. 28-year-old floyd lee corkens, the first time anyone has been charged with committing an act of terror under d.c.'s anti-terrorism act. the charge carries up to 30 years in prison. he appears in court tomorrow. funeral arrangements are in place for a prince george's police officer killed in a car crash. kevin bowden died last thursday after an suv collided with his cruiser in clinton. he was off duty at the time. the first viewing is friday night at lee's funeral home in clinton. his funeral will be held saturday. 14 months after the east

coast earthquake, louisa county, virginia, moving forward with plans to build a new elementary school. teachers and parents will be on site for the ground breaking ceremony. the 5. magnitude earthquake destroyed the elementary and high school. classes have been held on mobile units. the new elementary school should be ready to open in 2014. the "today" show is coming up next at 7:00. let's check in with matt lauer to see what they're working on for today this morning. good morning to you. nice to see you. >> good to see you as well. coming up on a thursday here on "today," hurricane sandy lashing cuba as a strong category 2 storm this morning. is a dangerous ceremony now shaping up for east coast of the united states in the coming days? al will have the latest on what to expect. also ahead, a "today" exclusive that will be particularly interesting to people in your area. ten years after his arrest, lee

boyd malvo, one of the d.c. snipers, speaks out from behind bars. what he's now revealing for the first time in what he says will be his last interview. then the latest on the presidential race, including brian williams' exclusive interviews with president obama on the campaign trail. and rare treasures from the royal family and hollywood in our studio, including judy garland's wizard of oz dress, and never-before-seen video of marilyn monroe's happy birthday song to president john f. kennedy. all that and much more ahead as we get started on a thursday here on "today." back to you. >> looking forward it to. thanks so much. >> thank you. 6:38 is our time right now. some welcome news this morning for teachers in prince george's county. also ahead, the devastation left by hurricane sandy and how close the latest track brings the storm to us. the warm weather continues here today, but for how much longer? your local forecast.

plus, what you need to do if maryland schools are number one in america because we invest in them. but we can do even more. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million dollars at casinos in other states. question 7 keeps that maryland money in maryland through expansion of gaming in maryland. it will mean hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools. as governor, i can promise you, that money will go to education.

that's the law and that's what we'll do. vote for question seven. it's quiet now in the russian embassy, but as governor, i cut five billion dollars in spending and balanced the budget every year. and tim kaine and i both cut our own pay as governors, to lead by example. mark warner and i reached across party lines to get things done.

we were a great team in richmond and we'll be a great team in washington. i'm tim kaine and i approve this message ...because we'll work together to restore fiscal responsibility, grow our economy and create jobs. [ male announcer ] tim kaine. bringing people together to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

time for your weather and traffic. i'm tom kierein. hometown forecast this morning for fairfax county, by 8:00 a.m., patchy fog and near 70. latest on sandy in ten minutes. how's traffic? >> getting ready to head out the door, expect delays on most of our roadways. if you're traveling in prince george's county, 301 and 5 accident-free. 5 starting to see delays as you head northbound to the beltway. 50 slow as well from the

beltway. and heading westbound, you're at about 25 miles per hour. a man involved in a single car crash winds up at the russian embassy. this is exclusive view of that man being led away by police eventually. megan mcgrath live at the embassy now to explain how this happened. megan? >> reporter: an interesting morning for the folks here at the russian embaasy. they got quite an unexpected guest early this morning. now it all started right around 12:30 with a car crash, a single vehicle car crash on massachusetts avenue. take a look at this video here. this is the suv that was involved in that accident. now, as soon as the accident happened, the driver took off on foot and led police on quite a chase down wisconsin avenue. it all came to a head in front of the russian embassy in northwest, on wisconsin avenue. that's where the man scaled the security wall and jumped on to the embassy property. now, he was taken into custody by russian security personnel

and he was held by the russians for over 90 minutes while police were on the other side of the fence out there on the sidewalk. eventually, the man was turned over to local authorities. he got a police escort to an balance that was standing by, and he was treated for minor injuries received in that car accident. no word at this point on charges, but we'll continue to follow it. reporting live in northwest, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you guys in the studio. one of the d.c. area snipers says he killed more people than police know about. lee boyd malvo made the startling revelation in an exclusive interview with matt lauer. malvo says he's tried to reach out to some of those victims' families but hasn't felt ready psychologically. >> yes, it is something i want to do and will do, and i tried it, but at that point in time, i know i couldn't handle it. i took care of some and i cannot

afford to break down psychologically in here, because there will be no help. no one cares. >> malvo also claims his accomplice john allen mohamed sexually abused him. you catch the entire interview this morning on the "today" show. virginia will host several campaign events in these final days before the election. news4 has just learned president obama will campaign alongside former president bill clinton in prince william county next monday. the president will be in the commonwealth today as well. he'll be at a rally in richmond. mitt romney's campaign will also be well represented in virginia today. his running mate paul ryan attends events in bristol and charlottesville. romney will campaign in virginia himself on sunday. >> please welcome the 44th president of the united states, barack obama. >> president obama managed to fit in an appearance on "the tonight show." he joked with jay leno last night about the pace of the campaign. >> you are racking up the miles.

how do you feel? feeling all right? >> i feel great. we started our 48-hour campaign marathon extravaganza. >> wow. >> started in iowa, went to denver, we're here, we're going to nevada, and then we will red eye to florida -- >> you mean red bull to florida. >> the president will appear on an mtv special tomorrow. mitt romney is staying in the heartland today. he is taking a bus tour across ohio. he'll make stops in cincinnati, worthington, and defiance. romney crisscrossed the country yesterday, he traveled more than a thousand miles, attending rallies in nevada, colorado, and iowa before ending the day in cincinnati. >> the obama campaign is slipping because it can't find an agenda to help the american families, but our campaign is growing into a moouvement acros this country that says we're going to get america back, we're going to get america strong.

>> recent polls show romney trailing the president by a few points in ohio. today south dakota residents will get to say goodbye to one of their most beloved leaders. a public viewing is planned in sioux falls for george mcgovern. the former senator and presidential nominee passed away sunday at the age of 90. vice president joe biden will attend a prayer service later this evening. mcgovern's funeral will take place tomorrow. he will be eventually laid to rest here in washington. today two groups on different sides of maryland's gay marriage debate will gather at gallaudet university but they'll be gathering in support for the same thing, calling for the reinstatement of dr. angela mccaskill. she was placed on paid leave earlier this month for signing a petition that forced maryland's question 6 referendum. she says she signed the petition to leave the decision up to voters. ministers who support gay marriage already planned a rally, but then the anti-gay gay marriage national black church initiative signed on as well. sentencing today for a

former university of maryland student who threatened to go on a campus shooting rampage. alexander song was arrested in march after posting online that he was going to "kill enough people to make it national news." in august, he pleaded guilty to disturbing the police. song is already banned from campus and required to do 200 hours of community service. he faces three years in prison. prosecutors plan to recommend more community service, probation, and mental health treatment. the trial begins today for two people accused of giving alcohol to minors killed in a crash. prosecutors say debbie franco and her son joshua gave alcohol to three teenagers before a january 28th crash. police say britney walker was driving the wrong way along route 50 when she slammed into another car. walker, zachary rose, and franco's daughter brianna and another driver die mid the crash. the francos' lawyer has said his clients are innocent. the smithsonian is receiving a huge donation to study the

world's ocean. philanthropist michael tennen balm and his wife are giving $10 million to the smithsonian to study marine observatories. they will keep track of the global changes and to see how humans impact the oceans. tennenbaum says long-term data of the ocean is scarce and since 2/3 of the world's population lives within 100 miles of the coast, more research needs to be done. microsoft is hoping 8 is its lucky number with the release of its newest operating system today. the computer company holding a pre-launch event for its windows 8 system. it features elements usually seen in smart phones and tablets, and is expected to try and compete with apple's popular ios system. the new operating system will come standard on microsoft surface tablets as well as all-new pcs. it is out with the old to make room for the new apple

fans, just days after word of a new ipad coming out. bertha coombs joins us with more on that. >> reporter: you know how you drive a new car off the lot, the minute you drive it off, it loses its value? not necessarily when it comes to apple ipads. as soon as apple unveiled that new ipad mini on tuesday, the first thing a lot of folks who apparently have ipads did was put them up for sale. web resaler gazelle.com says 140,000 were posted on its site. that's a 700% increase. -of that activity happened in the hours before apple's announcement. the most common model up for sale was the new ipad, or the old new ipad, the one that was released just seven months ago and is now being phased out. mean tile, elizabeth taylor may be gone, but the hollywood legend is still earning her keep. taylor, who died last year, tops "forbes" annual dead celebrities money list. her estate made $210 in the past

year, mostly from the auction of her jewelry collection, and sales of her white diamonds perfume. taylor also still makes money off of her movies. after cleopatra, she negotiated rights to 10% of all of her films. taylor edged out michael jackson, who earned $145 million, followed by elvis, charles schultz, and bob marley. elvis has been on that list for a long time. some legends never die. >> some good company there for sure. thank you. all eyes are on sandy right now. at least two people have died as the hurricane is gaining strength over cuba. wind gusts up to 114 miles per hour. the tropical storm warning is now in effect for palm beach county and the treasure coast, although it is unlikely sandy will make landfall in florida, the storm will likely pass close enough to generate some strong winds and heavy rains this weekend. now the question is what kind of impact sandy will make here.

for that, we bring in tom kierein, who has been tracking the path of sandy. >> it's so important to stay very close to nbc 4. we'll be here and we'll keep you fully informed, let you know what's going on. download our weather app for your mobile device, a great way to keep up with all the frequent updates. we'll get new track updates about every three hours throughout the day today, so stay tuned. two new track updates all the way through noontime. here is the view from space. some low clouds and a little bit of patchy fog around the metro area. especially points east. the areas in light green are in the low 60s. dark green, the 50s, much of maryland and virginia, a few locations in the mountains, chilly as well as central shenandoah valley into the 40s this morning. hurricane sandy heading toward the bahamas later today. winds are at 105 miles an hour. this is the latest update.

we'll be getting a new one at 8:00 this morning. tracking due north in the form of a category 2 storm much of the day. friday and saturday taking a turn to the northeast and passing west of bermuda, and then unfortunately, it could track anywhere within this zone. there's a huge area of uncertainty here, and there is some increasing concern that it may be tracking farther west and coming along our peninsula here, perhaps by late sunday into monday. the impacts, wind and rain beginning to come closer to us. the wrs d-- worst day for us would be monday. morning commute should be fine. some patchy fog around. 50s and low 60s. by 8:00 a.m., we'll be hovering with that low fog, but gone by noontime, in the upper 60s to around 70. tomorrow, partly sunny, near 70. cloudy saturday, looks like a

good day for outdoor activities. and then sandy, perhaps if it comes closer to us, sunday, monday, tuesday, we're on it. danella here with traffic. >> some good news if you're traveling southbound at 395. had a crash that was blocking the left lanes. it's clear. let's talk about northbound 395 now. as you make your way from the beltway, sluggish as you head to the 14th street bridge. at duke, these lanes are getting full. you're at about 28 miles per hour. you see slowing down even as we speak. that drive will take about 23 minutes, and over to i-270, straight delays from frederick all the way to the beltway, but heavy delays at father hurley boulevard. aaron, over to you. teachers in prince george's county about to get a raise. according to "the washington post," the county board of education unanimously approved a

new three-year contract with the teachers union last night, and that includes a 2% pay raise. this is the first raise a lot of teachers will get in the last three years. their new contract also addresses paid leave, teachers rights and working from home, while their health insurance stays the same. wasn't activated until the third week of august. at the wall. another! >> an historic first game at the 2012 world series. pablo sandoval crushed three home runs, as san francisco routed detroit 8-3. sandoval joins just three other players to have hit three homers in the world series game. the best part this is the first time he's hit three home runs in any major league game. game 2 of the fall classic is tonight. great game. starting today, you'll get a chance to win free tickets to the national christmas tree lighting ceremony. there are 3,000 seated tickets and 14,000 standing room tickets. if you want one, you enter

online at thenationaltree.org, we also have a link at nbcwashington.com. the lottery runs through monday and the 90th national christmas tree lighting ceremony will be held on december 6th on the ellipse. and that is "news4 today." >> the "today" show is next. we'll be back in 25 minutes weather, traffic and any breaking news. the latest on sandy, of course. we're back here tomorrow morning at 4:28. have a great day. we'll see you tomorrow. >> make it a great thursday, everybody. president obama: i'm barack obama and i approve...

this message. anncr: victims. dependent. that's what mitt romney called forty-seven percent... of americans. including people on medicare. but what about his plan for you? romney would replace guaranteed benefits with a voucher system. seniors could pay six thousand dollars more a year. a plan aarp says would undermine medicare. you're no victim...you earned your benefits. don't let mitt romney take them away.